For the first time European Regional Development Fund funding is to be targeted at Local Enterprise Partnership areas, in a major shift to more localised spending.
Local firms across the area will benefit from £170.8million funding, to help create jobs and boost skills. Funds will be locally led from the start.
Organisations working with small firms around the D2N2 area will now be able to apply for a share of funding from the latest round of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The funding will support innovation, boost businesses and create jobs across local economies, and bring benefits to the wider area which will be felt beyond the D2N2 area’s boundaries.
The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and other local partners will play a key role in shaping how the money is allocated and invested.
Local Growth Minister James Wharton said: “This funding will give the area a chance to contribute more to the national economy and unlock local potential. It will ensure we can build local economies that will have a big and real impact on people’s lives; delivering more jobs, more opportunities and a better future for all.
“We want local partners to come forward with how they want to use this money to drive forward their economy. As part of our long-term economic plan this money will provide a big boost to businesses and help create numerous jobs locally, that will also benefit people living in towns and villages nearby.”
Peter Richardson, Chairman of the D2N2 LEP, said: “The D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership area’s Strategic Economic Plan for growth is driven by the needs of our businesses and communities.
“The funds the area will be receiving from the new European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme announced today will play an important part in delivering our ambitions.
“Having agreed the local priorities for using these funds and moving our economy forward, we can now get on with spending it on the best projects to deliver growth and jobs in Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire.”
Around the country £5billion is being made available from the 2014 to 2020 round of the European Regional Development Fund and the European Social Fund, to fund these local projects.
Previous projects supported by the development fund in the D2N2 area include the Sustainable Construction Innovation Centre, at New College Nottingham, and the Nottingham Pre Start Community Enterprise Centre, Basford. The 2007-2013 round of ERDF created 6,390 jobs across the East Midlands from £216million of funding.
The new programme is built from the local priorities of England’s 39 Local Enterprise Partnership areas, who know best what is needed to boost growth locally. All funding decisions will be taken within this framework.
Partnership priorities which could benefit from the funding include supporting sector development and enterprise, and developing the workforce within the D2N2 area.
The main priorities of the European Regional Development Fund programme are research and innovation, supporting and promoting small to medium-sized enterprises, and the creation of a low carbon economy.
Across the D2N2 LEP area Government has invested £196m from Growth Deals, £95m from the Regional Growth Fund and £26m from the Growing Places Fund.
To learn more about European Union-backed funding through the D2N2 LEP click HERE.
To View a list of currently available funding calls in the East Midlands, click here
Media requiring more information about the work of the D2N2 LEP can contact Sean Kirby, D2N2 Communications Officer, on 01159 578749 or email: sean.kirby@d2n2lep.org
